Week 4: Oh the Adventures We've Had

This past week we have been to a few different places. Over the past week and a half I have been to 4 countries, 5 if you count Vatican City. We went to Vienna with the program and then to Prague for a fun trip with a few friends.

For our trip to Wien(Vienna), we did so much while we were there. The first day we were there, we got a "Medieval" tour by Dr. Schnabel of the medical history of Wien. He showed us many historic buildings that either used to be there or were converted into something else but told us the history of what it used to be. We also got to go to the Royal Bakery for lunch that day and we had some pretty good apple strudel, hot chocolate, and an amazing apricot-filled jelly donut. We then got a tour of the underground catacombs of the Michealkirche where we saw a few mummies and hundreds of bones. After the tour, we then walked to the Goulashmuseum and we had all kinds of amazing goulashes, as well as some wine to go along with it.

The second day we went to a Drug museum that was a little four room apartment in the middle of town. It had all kinds of pressed plants that had medical uses and even a pressed bat which I don't really know what the medical purpose of that was... They also had hundreds of jars full of plant pieces that all had medical purposes as well. Once the tour was over, they gave us a bean that was thought to bring luck by some African tribe. They had a book in the waiting room of the museum and we drew a Texas A&M symbol across two pages and then we all signed the book, just so anyone else who came there knew that we had been there. We were then free to do whatever we wanted so a few of us went to Starbucks to work on more homework since the WiFi at the hotel was not very good... That night we went to a "cozy" little food place that had some realy good roast pork and a pretty good beer as well. They had a wall that people could sign and I signed my name and then of course drew another ATM symbol to mark that the Aggies were there! After that we went to that same gelato place again and got some more amazing gelato before heading back to the hotel to work on more homework.

On the third day, we went to an insane asylum that had been converted into a medical museum. It had hundreds and hundreds of wax models of different diseases and disorders, many of which grossed out Mats to no end. They also had a few skeletons of people and animals that had rare bone disorders such as Siamese twins or Cyclocephaly(Cyclops eye). They also showed us a room of lungs that all had different diseases such as black lung or tuberculosis. After that museum, we walked to a Pakistani buffet where they had some really good food for however much you wanted to pay. Dr. Wasser then led us to the Freud House where he gave a lecture on Freud's background and then gave us a tour of the museum. Later that night we dressed up to go to the St. Anna Church for a classical music concert by a few string players.

On the last day, we got up early and dropped our bags off in the lobby and then walked to the Spanish Riding School to watch them do their morning practice. we stayed for about an hour and got to see a few of their "tricks" and "moves" but I think that the more experienced horses were brought out during the hour that we weren't there... We then were free to do whatever and a few of us went to a "regional" restaurant where we got fish thinking ti was schnitzel... It was still good but it wasn't what we were expecting. After that we went to a Starbucks nearby to work on some homework that we still hadn't finished. At around 2, we met up to walk over to the Natural History Museum of Vienna to get a tour. For the first hour, we had a tour guide that is good friends with Dr. Wasser and then for the second hour Dr. Wasser gave us a tour himself. We went through geology, meteorites, fish, jewels, fossils, birds, and early humans. That night we took a train to Prague and apparently I accidentally bought a ticket for the next month but the same day and everything and didn't realize it until they were checking the tickets... I had to buy another ticket, but since my ticket wasn't for another month, I was able to go online and get almost a full refund.

When we got to Prague, we got there at night and for some reason the track that we were supposed to come in on at the main station was blocked or broken so we were dropped off at the station before. We ended up calling an Uber that was uber cheap to go to the key pickup place and then we walked around for a while trying to find the actual apartment. We were so happy to get to the apartment cause it seemed very sketchy in that part of town. We all passed out about 10 minutes after getting there and didn't wake up until about 11.

That next day we went to a sort of food market that had all kinds of stalls with so many kinds of foods. I ended up getting a trdelnik, which is a kind of pastry that is wrapped around a rod and cooked in a coal pit. I got mine with cinnamon apples and ice cream on top and it was really good. We then walked to the astronomical clock and it was a little disappointing cause we expected it to move around a lot and put on a little show but all it did was ring and that was it. The astronomical part of it was just that it has a clock that shows the actual day of the year. We then went to the Charles bridge that had all statues all along it about every 30ft or so. We then went straight to Prague castle which wasn't as much of a castle as it was a compound. It had the castle walls and then a church and museum inside. The church was amazing but we didn't go to the alter, as we needed a ticket for that and we were trying to save money. After that we went and found a bar to get a drink at while some of the others ate and then we walked back to the apartment to rest for a bit. We then went downstairs to a Vietnamese place and I had some Com Rang for dinner. After that meal, we went back to the apartment to work on more homework while a few people went out to a club/bar.

The next day we woke up around 10 and went to the Jewish quarter and bought a ticket that got us into all of the synagogues in the area. They were all so intricate and had so many relics and religious items but since I know very little about Judaism, I don't think that I fully appreciated what we saw. We went through about 4 synagogues and a Jewish cemetery and then we went to an "American diner." The food was really good and the shakes were pretty good as well but they took forever to get us our food... All we ordered was burgers but apparently it takes 25 minutes or so for them to make them... After that we all went back to the main station to get our bags since some people had to leave to catch their flights back to Bonn. We had an hour or so to spare before we had to leave to get to our bus stop so we went to a burger king to get some wifi and hang out for a bit. Sid and I then got a tram pass and took the subway to get over to our bus stop where we took the night bus to get back to Bonn.

Somehow I survived all of Prague without withdrawing money considering that they have their own currency and I could only use euros at certain places. I did get some Korunas back as change one time so I do have some souvenirs to bring back. Throughout this past week and a half, I have gotten so many souvenirs and postcards that I don't know it my journal will stay closed it I keep this up.